Last week, Citizen Watch Company of America opened its first global flagship store in North America in the heart of Times Square. Located at the corner of 43rd and Broadway, the flagship bridges the gap between the brick and mortar and digital worlds, bringing a physical store environment to life through a variety of interactive technologies and displays. The new Citizen flagship store truly represents the convergence of retail channels that is quickly becoming the norm in today’s retail environment and represents Citizen’s commitment to “Better Starts Now.”
“We felt that a store in Times Square was the best stage in the world for domestic and international customers to interact with our brand,” said Jeffrey Cohen, President of Citizen Watch Company of America. “We wanted to create a venue where customers could experience our brand like never before and establish an emotional connection with our products. The look, feel and state of the art presentation ideas in the Times Square store will be developed into point of sale and merchandising concepts that we will take to our retail distribution partners.”
Citizen, a company who operated almost exclusively through wholesale channels prior to the opening of the global flagship, retained The Grayson Company to help them create this global flagship retail venue. “My belief was that a world class company like Citizen should be aligned with a world class consulting firm like The Grayson Company” said Jeffrey Cohen, “the project was large in scope but when it came to rolling up sleeves, The Grayson Company was there all the way.”
“While we at Citizen had a vision for this store from the beginning”, said Jeffrey Cohen “the Grayson Company enabled us to move the project from concept to implementation. We never felt like we were by ourselves – Grayson was a partner until the very end and had the knowledge, experience and creativity to guide us through the process. They allowed us to focus on our core wholesale business while transitioning key retail skills to our team, that, in turn will help make us better partners in the future with our wholesale distributors.”
Kevin Mullaney, President of The Grayson Company added, “The new Citizen global flagship is nothing short of spectacular. This store introduces some dramatic new technology including a high definition LED video canopy that is capable of broadcasting live events, enabling passersby on Times Square to interact with the product and the store. We are proud to be associated with Citizen and this new flagship Times Square landmark.”
The Grayson Company advised Citizen from idea inception through construction and store opening, assisting the company with:
– Development of financial models, business plan and budget
– Lease negotiations
– Assortment planning and merchandising
– Store design process
– Executive search
– Co-ordination of fixture vendors
– Vetting process for contractors
– Construction management
If you are interested in learning more about this project or how The Grayson Company can address your needs, please contact us at 212.661.6262 or inquiry@thegraysoncompany.com.
